Occultica

In recent years, there have been a number of pamphlets and books put out be various Christian organizations dealing with the origins of modern-day Halloween customs.

Being a Witch myself, and a student of the ancient Celts from whom we get this holiday, I have found these pamphlets woefully inaccurate and poorly researched. A typical example of this information is contained in the following quote from the pamphlet entitled "What's Wrong with Halloween?" by Russell K. Tardo.

‘Whom God wishes to destroy, he first turns mad.’ For many years both director and viewer have shared an attraction to watching ongoing battles between characters and their subconscious, with the latter more often than not, the victor.

Losing one’s mind is one of the most frightening prospects as within this; we lose our perception of the world around us, thus setting up a confusing and sometimes disturbing journey to those dark places.

The following films, in chronological order, all contain a character that at some point takes a turn to madness, some more than others....

The truth is, there should be many more on this list, but here are just 10 for now.

10) La Tomatina

La Tomatina is simply put, a tomato fight. What makes it special is that it’s the world’s largest tomato fight, with thousands of people participating. No one is really sure how the idea started, but it’s been going on every year since 1945. The most well know origin story is that the city folk, displeased by their rulers, started throwing tomatoes at them. Whatever the case, the concept was so good that people repeated...

The word “occult” comes from the Latin occultus, which means “hidden” or “secret”. Society has long associated the occult with the practices of sorcery and devil worship. It has always represented mankind’s strive to know the unknown, the forbidden.

Strictly speaking, the occult can be associated with many religions, both of the right- (direct, conventional) and left- (chaotic/complex, taboo) hand paths. Some would argue both journeys ultimately lead to the same goal; it is, however the dark that seems to fascinate us the most.

For centuries art has been created, depicting mysterious rituals and visions of...